Lights in the Dark
by Distant Storm
Summary: It is said that light balances darkness; there cannot be one without the other. Hilary acquires a bit beast. But not just any bit beast: Black Dranzer. It's been years since the team has been together. How will they handle it on top of the usual plots to destroy the world and conquer beyblade? KaiHil. Rating may change.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I affiliated with Beyblade.

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At the BBA's main training facility in Los Angeles, California, Stanley Dickenson was hard at work, personally overseeing what he felt to be a very important project. With his age quickly catching up to him, this was rare. He typically oversaw day to day business, while sending teams of trusted agents to handle projects such as these.

However, this was something different.

There was something about the tension in the main arena that bristled everyone except one woman, whose blade was at the ready, despite the itchiness of the sensors on both her forehead, heart, and wrists. The man across from her looked uncertain, but not afraid. She could feel the pack clipped to the back of her jeans with a transmitter that went to one of the many computers in the lookout her left.

Hilary Tachibana could practically taste the nervousness of the team in the booth above them. She knew this was definitely one of those strange things that could only happen to the group of friends she had accumulated over the years, even though she hadn't seen any of them in what felt like forever. They had called in a special team just to analyze her and her beyblade, not to mention spent months researching the history of this whole ordeal before they even permitted her to practice on more than simulators.

"If we notice the littlest thing get out of hand, we're going to stop the battle. If you feel yourself start to lose control, just say the word and we'll shut it down." Her earpiece carried the chairman's voice, and she was sure her opponent was privy to the same.

A second voice came through the receiver. "There's no shame in this, you've gone much farther than any of us have thought."

She scoffed back. "I've been in control the whole time. Everyone relax, and lets finish this, shall we?" Speaking more to her opponent, she regarded the man across the bey-dish. "Hiro, I'm ready when you are."

Receiving a smile in return, he readied himself, and she bent her knees, locking in her blade, and pushing the rip cord in until it clicked. "On my count," He breathed, louder in her earpiece than the whisper it was.

The countdown was quick and without much thought, their battle was underway. "Metal Drigger, get her."

"We don't want you to call your bit beast," The second voice in her ear, Bruce Granger, said calmly. Use only the power of your beyblade."

"That's just stupid," She huffed. "Hiro, I bet it'll take you five minutes to beat me. Any longer and I'll buy lunch."

Hiro smirked at her in return.

"This isn't a laughing matter." This was punctuated with the clash of beyblades. Mr. Dickenson continued. "If you wish to participate, we need to see this."

"I don't mean to lose my cool, but we've been doing this for nine months now. I'm positive that if my bit beast were looking to possess me in order to do it's evil bidding, it would've happened by now."

She was rewarded with an understanding smile by Hiro, though she expected it was mostly just to get her to let her guard down.

"If your beast has even the slightest control over you, you won't be able to compete, Hilary," Mr. Dickenson's voice was firm now. "I will not allow any more atrocities to befall the BBA. And I most certainly will not allow you to just walk into a tournament without being sure that there is no chance-"

"You have to trust me." She sighed and looked at her beyblade, feeling the warmth of her beast, knowing it wished to emerge and claim victory from their opponent. "Not this time," She whispered under her breath, as Hiro called upon his metallic beast and finished the battle.

"Three minutes and thirty two seconds, squirt."

"And here I thought you'd stall," She smirked as she slid on her knees to the bottom of the dish to reclaim her beyblade. "Thanks for not decimating my blade."

"It wasn't like you were trying," Hiro offered in reply.

Flipping long brown hair over her shoulder, Hilary shrugged. "It's not like I only rely upon my bit beast to win a battle," She examined the bit before continuing. "I've undergone how many different kinds of tests now? I know all about what's happened in the past, that's what it is, the past. I'm not about to start bragging about my skills, but I do have something to prove. And so does she."

A cackle in their links indicated Stanley clearing his throat. "Go ahead," He sighed, still not completely won over. "You can battle, all out."

Hilary's smile seemed infectious, and Hiro locked his blade back into the launcher.

"You are so going down," She chimed, giving him a determined smirk. "I've been practicing."

"I hadn't noticed," The older blader replied, removing his trainer's jacket. "So what are we betting this time?"

Their ear pieces buzzed again. "Loser buys us all lunch."

"Dad," Hiro huffed. "C'mon, that's expensive."

"Only if you lose," Hilary reminded him with a smile.

The bladers could only imagine the look on Dickenson's face when he spoke through their link. "Now that we've got that important matter settled-" Hilary covered a giggle with her sleeve, "Let's be mindful of the equipment, you hear me?"

Hilary rolled her eyes. "I presume that warning is for me."

"I don't think you knew your own strength."

"That was one time, Mr. D! I'll be careful, I promise!"

"You caused one hundred thousand dollars in structural damage."

Dejected, Hil scuffed her left boot against the ground. "My bad," she murmured.

"Just be careful," The chairman reiterated. "And same rules apply. Call off the match if you feel the slightest bit out of control. I'd rather deal with more damages than the alternative."

"Your faith in me is just unbelievable," The woman grumbled. All these tests, psychiatric evaluations, training, simulations, and she was still getting flack for it. She didn't pick her partner, nor would she trade her for the world. And she'd make them all see.

"Ready?"

"I was born ready," she confirmed.

"Three,"

"Two,"

"One-"

"Let. It. Rip!"

Her blade seemed to emit a small shock wave as it left her launcher, a newly frequent occurrence. Waiting to get her bearings, she evaluated and regarded her opponent and long time friend and coach with a look that screamed of patience finally paying off.

"Tomorrow," Hilary heard Mr. Granger say, "We'll call in Robert to spar with her. He's always up for a challenge."

"Looks like they're almost done with you, Squirt," Hiro said through the monitor. She nodded and followed his gaze back to their match. "I'll hurry up and finish you off so you can rest before tomorrow."

Laughing, Hilary cast her arm out toward her blade. "I think you got that backwards. This match is almost over, but I'm going to be wiping the floor with you, Hiro."

"I don't think so. Metal Drigger!"

Both bladers could hear someone's breath catch over the ear piece, and if they cared, neither let it show. As the large metallic tiger rose from its bit, Hilary's silver blade began to glow and the static cackled in everyone's ears as she spoke.

"Black Dranzer, Shadow Storm!"

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**Ending Notes:** So, hope you enjoyed my prologue, and I hope you stick with this story. Please feel free to leave any comments and critique as you see fit, this is unbeta'd and could probably use more than a little work. Any ideas or feedback is also welcome. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One: While You Were Out

X X X

As she sat in the chairman's office, she revisited her expectations and thoughts about how this was all going to go. Not that she thought it was going to be smooth sailing, she certainly knew that was never an option, however this was just a tad bit too much. Listening to Dickenson speak in rapid Japanese, then English, then hang up and dial another number and speak in a third language she did not understand very well, it became clear to her that she was going to be in for a fight both in and out of the arena. Never mind the fact that she hadn't seen anyone of her ex-teammates in the last three years, some of them much longer, or that she hadn't even revealed to them – nor was she to reveal to them, per Stanley Dickenson himself – that she was beyblading, and exactly what bit beast was locked inside her blade until all these preparations were made, and the chairman's fears assuaged regarding the potential calamity she could cause if for some reason her intentions were impure.

Hilary sighed. Things hadn't even actually begun, and they had been going on for some time now.

She allowed her mind to wander as Mr. Dickenson motioned to his in-office cappuccino maker, his universal sign for 'this call's going to be a while.' It had really been a long time since she had seen her friends. The last of them to fall out of contact was Tyson, whom after high school had taken to New York City, with promises to write and e-mail. She got a call last Christmas, and an e-mail on her birthday. She understood he was busy, and she couldn't fault him for trying to understand the business mechanics behind the BBA. In fact, she applauded him for trying to do something other than eat enough for half of Africa. Mr D would occasionally update her, and though sworn to secrecy, Hiro had been sent with a letter, and a hug explicitly for his little brother when he had dropped in on the world champion earlier in the fall.

Max should've been more accessible, considering she lived within driving distance of the blond beyblader, but it seemed like he almost never had time to meet up. They had done lunch once four years ago, but at that point, she hadn't been sure if she was going to stay or move back to Bakuten, and Max had been preoccupied with the training center his mom had opened in Seattle. So naturally, he spent more time traveling back and forth, making things difficult, and not trying to be a burden, she hadn't mentioned that she was looking for a place to live.

It's twenty-thirteen, the twenty-four year old woman thought to herself incredulously. Even though all her old teammates had cell phones, none of them seemed to answer her messages, much less her calls. After months of very limited and disappointing response, she stopped all-together. They had her number, and she wasn't going to force them into contact. After everything years ago, she had tried desperately to keep their team together, but everyone eventually left for their home countries. Secretly, she wondered if Rei ever left the White Tiger Village in the five years since he left Japan. He had fallen off the map for a while, but thankfully, the one person her old teammates did answer was Mr Dickenson. She could at least find some reassurance in the fact that they were all alive and well. Kenny even, for all the time he spent with Dizzi, his computer, was unreachable, and ever since Diachi had left for boarding school at the tender age of sixteen, he had also been in the wind.

That left Kai, and since he wasn't much of a talker, she was never surprised to not hear back from him. He preferred space, and she respected him well enough to give him just that. After a few years of trying like crazy to e-mail and call, she realized she had been approaching the situation the wrong way, and began sending simple cards for his birthday and Christmas. What surprised her most of all was that every year on her exact birth date, no matter where in the world she was, she would receive a bouquet of white roses, and a card with a hand written message on the inside. It was never long – he was a man of few words – but the penmanship was undeniable and dare she say it, beautiful, and these cards always stayed on her fridge until the next year's came along.

She would always reply in kind on his birthday with a card, knowing better than to attempt a gift, and that the simple messages she wrote in his cards were enough for him. Christmas always found her with a snow globe of a different city in Russia, as she once recalled mentioning loving winter to Max (in his presence of course) who did not share her sentiment, and she would collect them on a shelf in her living room and surround them with lights at Christmas time. In return, she would always overnight him a large box of Christmas cookies. She knew he celebrated both Christmas and New Year's at the same time, so her assortment would be sent in mid to late December.

A smile pulled at her lips as she recalled the year just after BEGA. Tyson's household had been overfull at Christmas, and she had spent the better part of a week baking cookies for the crowd of beybladers, family, and friends. Tyson, of course, destroyed a box of cookies in mere minutes, and while she had made five dozen specifically for him, she had spent a lot of time making specific types of cookies for each member of her extended family, their team. It had taken a small amount of courage – Kai was still recovering from what had happened with Brooklyn, but Hilary managed to catch him out back near the koi pond and wordlessly left the small box beside him. It wasn't until a few days later when Tyson awoke the household unusually early screaming about missing a box of her world famous sugar cookies that she realized Kai had a sweet tooth (the genuine smile and wink he gave her before fixing Tyson with a glare and a comment about being more responsible gave him away).

Pulling out her beyblade, she wondered what exactly the response would be from the stoic Russian, but most of her didn't want to blow things out of proportion, if that were at all possible. She felt guilty for not telling her friends about this development that had occurred in the last few years of her life, but they seemed absorbed in their own worlds, and by the time she had discovered Black Dranzer's self appointed residency with her, Dickenson had called Hiro and Bruce Granger, and sworn everyone to complete silence until they figured out if she could even keep her bit beast.

Not so fondly, Hilary remembered a lot of fighting with the man sitting across the room on his telephone, quite a bit of screaming, and some long nights trying to prove that while she wasn't quite sure why all this had happened, it most certainly was for a reason. She was absolutely not -even if she wasn't permitted to enter into tournaments within the BBA or the sport in general – going to give up her bit beast. Not when she had spent the last decade working so hard within the sport as a mechanic, trainer, and most recently, blader.

Dickenson hung up the telephone a few moments later, regarding Hilary with a sympathetic smile. It had been two weeks since they had concluded testing on both Hilary and Black Dranzer. As far as anyone could tell, they had both passed with flying colors. Surprisingly, Stanley felt his qualms about the situation starting to ease, especially after her battles with Robert and Johnny from the Majestics. They had proven worthy opponents, and she had gone one and one, surprising both the European men and herself in the process.

"Well, my dear," Dickenson produced his spectacles from the pocket of his suit coat, "I just spoke to Tala, and he'll be arriving at LAX in about four hours. He was in Texas when I called, and his lay-over was just about up. I was going to find a hotel for him, but he said that your spare bedroom would suffice, and that you had already offered."

She blushed in response at the tone and implications of the chairman's voice. "I always told Tala he was welcome at my place any time. Would you like me to pick him up?"

"I could send a car."

"Don't subject any of your drivers to his abuse." Hilary shared a smile with the man who had become both a mentor and a close friend. "He'll probably want me to take him to a Sonic. He always gets a kick out of it."

"The drive in?"

"Yeah." A smile blossomed on her face, with a touch of humor lighting her eyes. "I find that the easiest approach is to keep him happy."

Dickenson chuckled. "Well considering how he felt about you a year ago, I suppose that's an improvement."

"I guess so," She stood from her seat, half empty cappuccino in her hand. "That's still a few hours from now," she continued. "Shall we?"

The chairman of the BBA nods and together they leave the room, heading for the film room on the twentieth floor. While Hilary did a lot of training, she was employed by the BBA to examine potential candidates for competitions, compile lists for private tournaments of eligible beybladers, and to use the film collected by BBA scouts to determine the types of beyblades and parts most frequently used as to better serve the public. It was a job that tied directly into her training, and helped her greatly. Between that and the soon to be income from tournaments, she would have a very sizable income. Much better than most people her age.

X X X

By the time she reached the airport, Tala was waiting outside for her. She pulled up her black Honda Civic Si, and pushed the lever at her feet to pop the trunk open. She heard the thunk of his two bags in her empty trunk, and hit the unlock button on her door panel to give him access to the cabin of the vehicle. He slipped in wordlessly, and she shifted the car into drive.

It was a few moments later before he spoke, and Hilary made due with the low hum of the radio as she made her way through the city traffic. "How you doing?" He asked once they stopped at what felt like the millionth red light.

"I'm good, Tala," She smiled at him, meeting his bright blue eyes. "How're you?"

He shrugged against the seat belt. "Can't complain." He looked out the window at the array of palm trees. "I'll never get used to this. These trees are so weird."

A giggle escaped Hilary as she put on her left blinker. "This place is nice, but I hear you." They turned, and she sped up to get into an adjacent lane.

"Easy now killer," Tala reprimanded, grabbing onto the handle of the door as they lurched around another corner.

If Hilary was slighted, she didn't act like it. Instead, she began to slow as she reached her rental property."Want to drop your stuff off, then we'll go grab some dinner?"

Tala nodded, and she pulled into the opening garage, turned off the ignition and popped the trunk again."Mind if I take a shower? Flying always makes me feel gross."

"No worries. I'd like to get changed anyway," She motioned to her BBA shirt and athletic pants. "Maybe Sonic and then we'll train?"

Smirking at the excitement that briefly flashed across his eyes, she saw him nod before heading upstairs with his bags. In the meantime, she went to the front door, pushing open the door just enough to reach the mailbox mounted on the siding. Finding nothing but credit card offers and other junk mail, she shut and locked the door, throwing it all out in the kitchen before heading upstairs herself.

The shower came to life in the room across from hers, and she closed her door three quarters of the way before removing her shirt and pants. She moved to her dresser and withdrew a pair of dark jeans, casting a look out her window at the setting sun. While the City of Angels almost always warmer than other places she had visited or lived, she felt the need to wear jeans at night. It was only May, and the temperatures were chilly after dark. The thought then crossed her mind that Tala was probably experiencing a tropical escape, and she stifled her giggles as she pulled up the tight jeans.

It took her a few moments to find a shirt, and after settling on a gray one with a lace back, she heard the shower stop. Turning to the mirror, she examined herself, finding that she didn't look half bad. Every so often, she would be faced with the surprising differences between the awkward teen she had been and the woman she had become, even if she barely felt like an adult. In place of a nearly straight line figure were curves, and a more athletic build, and short brown locks had become longer though she kept the bangs. Crossing her arms over her breasts, she made her way to her jewelry box on top of the dresser and withdrew a pair of dark earrings and their matching bracelet counterparts.

Finished, she opened her door to see the retreating form of an only towel clad Tala heading to his room. Thankfully, growing up in close quarters with a group of boys taught her not to swoon every time an attractive male clad in almost nothing passed by, as well as not to be too shy. Not that she ever was in the first place, but she still remembered the shock of seeing Tyson running around in a towel at fourteen, only to reach their communal dwelling and drop it, revealing to her his entire rear end. She could still hear the squealing scream she emitted, and how red Tyson's face had become when he realized things would be different now that there was a girl on the team.

She stepped into the bathroom and washed her face, brushed her hair, and applied a small amount of makeup. Satisfied, she sprayed a citrus based perfume and headed downstairs, where she was met once more with a now fully clothed Tala. Seeing that he was on the phone, she remained silent, though she felt the Russian's blue eyes follow her as she threw her work and training clothes into a basket in the laundry room just off the kitchen.

He was speaking in his native language, and though Hilary wasn't fluent, she had learned a small amount of his language from her brief stint living with Kai. Enough that she understood some of the conversation and that the hard look in his eyes meant trouble. Returning from the laundry room, she drank in his casual look of light jeans and a blue and white striped button up shirt.

He tapped the end button on his phone and waited for her to regard him with a look that said she wasn't going to be caught off guard.

"Spit it out, " She said a moment later, hands on her hips in her trademark defensive stance.

Tala smirked at her. "Guess who that was," He began, and she nodded, following him as he retrieved his boots by the garage door. "The Bladebreakers are on their way to New York." He continued, cutting to the chase. "Kai knew I was in the states, and since he'd been summoned by Dickenson to meet with his old team mates, he figured he might want to see what I'm up to. Apparently, Kai says come and you're supposed to drop everything and get to where he is."

"So you're going-"

Tala held up a hand to stop her. "No no no," He said, his accent appearing for a moment. "If anything, he can come to me. I'm not one of his lap dogs."

Hilary giggled at the thought. "So they're getting together? Nice of them to send an invite. Last I checked, I was part of their team."

"Not with that beyblade you aren't," Tala said, motioning to the launcher and beyblade at her waist. "Which gets me to the important part. Dickenson invited them to New York. Apparently he has some important thing for them to see."

"I wonder what that is," She replied, fixing him with a confident smile. "Maybe you should go to New York. Just to see their faces."

"Maybe you should call Dickenson, just to confirm before we get ahead of ourselves." She flashed him a knowing look and Tala shrugged and gave her a cheeky smile. "Alright, and then I'll consider it. I wouldn't mind seeing Kai caught off guard for once."

As they left and Hilary flipped the switch to open her garage door, she shook her head. "I'm approved. And Stanley even promised complete anonymity," She flipped the car into reverse and headed out onto the streets. "They find out that Black Dranzer is being used in the next tournament, but they don't find out by who until I make my presence known to them."

"So, you got your wish."

"I did everything their way. Now I get to do things my way."

X X X

It was with surprising courage that Stanley Dickenson found himself about to confront a group of grown men about a very touchy subject. So touchy, that he found himself pacing in his office for the first time in nearly a decade, wondering if this was going to open the very can of worms that had been closed with the fall of BEGA, and rekindle the rivalry that once took the sport by storm.

Certainly, he thought, if anyone could really light a fire under these boys(regardless of age, they would always be boys in his eyes) asses, it would be Hilary. Even if they weren't aware of her identity. Just the thought of the prospect of battling Black Dranzer would have Kai back to training more rigorously. There would be legitimate competition, in his mind. Even though, for the last few years, the champions had fallen silent, having proved all they thought possible.

Would a few hundred competition matches in their mid teens really be their legacy? They were young champions, but was that really it?

No. Stanley wouldn't allow himself to think this way. He ceased his pacing and sat at his desk, straightened his glasses and pushed the intercom that linked his office phone with his secretary's bluetooth.

"Send them in."

X X X

"Now, I'm sure you're all wondering why I called you here."

Tyson scoffed from his place near the coffee maker. "Well duh."

Rei, in turn, whacked Tyson's arm. "You'll have to excuse him. Inside the man's body is really just the same little boy."

"Hey!"

Dickenson laughed, and soon the men joined in. It was just like old times. Except Tyson had lost the chubbiness of his youth and gained a much more masculine figure, Rei preferred to wear his long hair down instead of tied back unless blading, Kenny's voice had dropped, and Max had grown almost as tall as Kai, but kept his baby face. Aforementioned captain stood tall beside the window, and other than the five o'clock shadow, a few inches, and a different outfit, looked exactly the same.

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way," The BBA's founder continued, feeling much more confident about the situation, "I'd like you all to follow me to the conference room. We've got some footage we'd like to show you."

"Footage of what?"

This time, it was Kai that spoke, and the group found that though time had passed, the volume of his voice was more than made up for by the intensity of its cadence.

Dickenson smiled politely. "It will be worth your while, Kai." Glancing around the room, he nodded to himself. "Most definitely worth your while."

Once they had settled in the room down the hall, sitting at a long table across from a very large screen, Stanley clicked a button on the remote, and two beyblades were shown. One silver, one black. Metal Drigger, and an unknown. He left the display paused, before motioning to the doorway where both Hiro and Bruce Granger entered quietly.

"While you were out," Hiro said, striding to the front of the room, "There's been some competition emerging."

"We're retired," Rei said carefully, regarding the neko-gin with hard yellow-brown eyes. "We've made our legacy."

"Yeah, and while you've been out in the boonies, people have been making fools of us!" Eyes turned to the Chief as his words hit home."I don't know who these guys are, or if they'll even be that difficult to beat, but you've got to admit getting the gang together isn't a bad thing, Rei."

"I for one have been to a few tournaments in the last few years," Max supplied, looking back at Rei. "And while people know we were great, that's just it. We _were_. Not _are_. People don't know if we've still got it."

"C'mon, Maxy, we've still got it." Tyson puffed out his chest, and Kai crossed his arms and closed his eyes. This was familiar.

"Look," Bruce intercepted his son with a nod, and all eyes were directed to the screen as Mr. Dickenson hit the play button. "This is just one example, the most pertinent one we've had. We wanted you to see this first, before the owner of this blade begins competing. "

The beyblades on the screen took turns striking back and forth. "I know that's Hiro," Rei began, after a few moments of silence, "But who's that other blade belong to."

Dickenson waited for a moment to pass before replying. "The blader asked that we keep their identity hidden for now. All you need to know is that this individual has been trained thoroughly, undergone vast testing, and competes with the BBA's approval.

The group appeared to nod to themselves, murmuring a bit before falling silent again.

It was about this time that the silver beyblade began to glow a dark color, and an arrow of black light shot skyward from it.

"You have got to be kidding me." Kai stood, practically knocking his chair to the ground behind him. "How can it be?"

Tyson looked from his brother, to his father, and then to the chairman himself. "You guys have Black Dranzer?"

"No, Tyson," Stanley shook his head and paused the tape on a full view of the black phoenix."But the blader Black Dranzer chose-"

"You can't be serious." Kai met Dickenson with an icy glare that would have been nostalgic if not for the fury behind it. "Nobody can control Black Dranzer. I'm speaking from experience here."

Hiro crossed his arms and spoke. "We thought so too, but we've performed multiple tests on Black Dranzer, and its blader, and everything is in order. We've spent the better part of a year collecting as much information as we can, and we believe that Black Dranzer isn't a threat."

"We thought you weren't a threat, but you switched sides pretty quickly."

"The same could be said for you, Kai." Hiro's glare was less intimidating, but it got the point across.

Max took this moment to stand and extend an arm in front of Kai, causing the Russian to blink. "Look, I'm not so sure about this either, but-"

"But nothing." Tyson sighed. "Black Dranzer caused us a lot of grief. And when I say us, I mean more than just the people in this room. How do you think Lee or Meriah of White Tiger X will respond to this? And does this beyblader think they can just enter a tournament and not expect backlash?"

"No, Tyson, that isn't the case. The person who wields this blade came to us upon discovering Black Dranzer's residency within it. If they weren't to be trusted, I suspect that the Saint Shields would've come for her by now."

"Her?"

The three men leading the discussion glanced at each other. They couldn't afford to let Hilary's identity slip. They had explicitly promised...

"Yes. Black Dranzer's partner is female. Is that a problem?"

"I would presume that her time of the month would be the end of the world," Tyson surmised with a smile. Max, Kenny, and Rei suppressed laughter, but Kai's eyes glinted dangerously.

"This isn't a joke Tyson."

Dickenson sighed. "There is more film of her beybattles. She faced both Robert and Johnny of the Majestics, and we have some of the files of her evaluations that you can look over." Looking at his watch he regarded the boys a final time. "I've also put together some files and compilations of some beybladers that might pose as competition for you, should you decide to continue your careers."

"We'll look things over," Rei said, as Hiro and Bruce Granger deposited three large boxes of files onto the table top. "But don't just expect us to come out of retirement for a few decent beybladers."

Dickenson nodded his understanding, and gave them a sincere smile. "I appreciate you all coming out boys," He made his way to the door with the help of his cane. "And I promise, I don't expect you to just drop everything. I only ask that you consider."

Once the trio had left the room and gotten a safe distance down the hall, Hiro nudged Mr. Dickenson. "You really think they'll decide to compete?"

Stanley Dickenson smirked in such a way that reminded both Grangers that he was a business man first. He could play with the best of them. "Why, I already know that Tyson will compete. Black Dranzer bothers Kai enough to get him to at least stick around, and Max and Kenny will side with Tyson, they've just been friends that long."

"And Rei?"

"His closing remarks tell me he's already doubting himself. He's got something to prove, and he's too young not to do it."

"You are a sly man Stanley," Bruce shook his head in disbelief. "Those boys were never any match for you."

X X X

**Endling Notes:** Hopefully this chapter didn't bore you with the amount of information. But, it had been a while since everyone had come together, so I did my best to catch you all up. If any information seems to have fallen through the cracks, please let me know. Also, you'll notice that I haven't included Daichi in the later half of this chapter, however, when I say Bladebreakers, I don't typically include the tyke. Other things I want to address include a thank you to everyone who's taken the time to read, review, favorite, and/or alert, it really means the world, and a brief plug about how happy I am that MoonlightSerenity aka Jess/AJ still writes for the site. If you haven't, go check her out! Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Lightning Strike

X X X

From the passenger's side, Hilary Tachibana stared out at the hustle and bustle of the New York City streets. Everything was so fast paced here, and it was one of the things that she both admired and hated about the city. She preferred her rental in Santa Monica, and the warm beach. Here, everyone was all business, and it was no wonder that she felt anxious. It was with a burst of homesickness that she realized that she had found herself a second home.

"Uh, hey Tala?"

The Russian man in question waited a moment to answer, being promptly cut off by a taxi. "Yeah?"

The young woman smiled as she watched him pretend like the ignorant driving style didn't effect him, though she figured he would have launched his Wolborg through at least half of the cars in front of him, just to send a message.

"Well, I was just wondering. Did the guys make any mention of me?"

"Hilary." He slammed on the brakes, glaring ruthlessly as he produced his middle finger to the driver that had nearly sideswiped him. "We've been over this. Kai called me right after he met with Dickenson, freaking out about the bird." Tala motioned to the beyblade in her lap. "Then the guys announced their coming out of retirement, we watched it on tv." Hilary nodded. "Then he called me two days ago to tell me to come to NYC for their celebration before the qualifying rounds tomorrow night. Dickenson had already got our tickets in order. All you got was a lousy generic invite, and after you got though being surprised and hurt about it, you got real fuckin' pissy. You can stop this nonsense at any time."

"Geez, I'm sure you'd be thrilled if the Blitzkrieg Boys just carried on without you."

Tala scoffed. "If it wasn't for me, I don't think they'd be able to communicate, much less handle the outside world. I'm the only one that actually does the talking."

"Look Mister, at least your team recognizes you as being a part of it, even if you don't compete together all the time." Her eyebrows furrowed, but she batted her eyelashes annoyingly to make sure he got the point.

Tala took a moment to sigh. "Women." Pausing while he flipped his left turn signal on and pulled into their destination, he glanced in her direction. "If it bothers you that much that no one personally bothered to see if you're still breathing, why don't you contact them yourself." Ice blue met ruby.

"Humph. I don't think I should have to."

"No?" The Russian beyblader sighed. "God forbid you should have to. I think you're just like Tyson sometimes."

"Hey!" Her eyes were practically red and smoke would be coming out of her ears at any moment.

"Are you going to continue to prove my point?" Noting her pouting face and protruding lip complete with quivering to make it appear that his words actually wounded her, Tala parked the vehicle in the lot and pushed open their door. "When you decide to be a big girl, you can come in and help me pick out our ride for tonight."

Sighing, Hilary giggled and draped her small cross body purse over her left shoulder, her sundress flaring out behind her as she exited Tala's rental car. "You can't take a joke."

"Please, Tachibana. Had you been joking, I would've at least pretended not to laugh." The smirk on Tala's face grew to one that she wished to smack off his pale skin, but she sighed dejectedly. Tala had her there.

X X X

When they emerged from the _new_ new rental for the second time, evening was turning to dusk, though it was impossible to tell the difference with stormy skies turning everything an electric kind of dark. Though she had expected it, she was still taken aback by the flashes from multiple cameras all around her, like small bolts of lightning – much like the large ones that were flickering ominously over Manhattan and all around them.

Tala threw the keys to the valet and handed him a hundred dollar bill, all the while rounding the front of the car gracefully to pull her own door of the Porsche open fully and extend a hand to her. Tsking under her breath, Hilary allowed herself to be pulled to her feet as the media and paparazzi alike very obviously assessed her as his date, unaware of her identity. Meanwhile, Tala turned on the debonair charm his date had accused him of lacking three minutes prior.

"Tala, Tala!" Voices all around them screamed the Russian's name, looking for information regarding his date, his plans for the upcoming tournament, and where his team was. Not that he felt that any of that was their business, he smiled and greeted the reporters while linking arms with the woman at his side.

They ascended the stairs into the hotel where the gathering was to held before seeing Rei and Kai standing at the bar, with Tyson rapidly approaching. It was about this time that the chatter behind the duo turned from Tala to murmurs of disbelief and absolute joy at the discovery of what appeared to be an unlikely relationship. From somewhere to the duo's right, a reporter realized her identity, and things got crazy. Both of them rolled their eyes as the questions started coming in heavier, knowing that no matter how many times they expressed that they were merely accompanying each other and there was no "something" between them, there would at least be a column in most news papers and tabloids covering some fictitious highly confidential relationship that they just couldn't keep to themselves anymore.

Stanley finally appeared to pull them into the party and silence the raging hounds at the doors, threatening to kick them out if they continued to badger the guests.

"My," The millionaire businessman breathed, his cheeks pink from the gin and tonic in his hand, "You look stunning, my dear." He extended a hand to the brunette and spun her before pulling her in for a hug and kiss on the cheek. He whispered something in her ear that made her cheeks redden before nodding and extending a hand to Tala. They shook briskly. "You look sharp as well, Tala. I trust things have been well with you."

Tala nodded and Hilary rushed from his side, being engulfed by a giant hug from Tyson's grandfather, Stanley's best friend. "You know how it goes," he smarted. "Things are really beginning to get down to the wire." Stanley hummed his agreement, and both men cast Hilary a glance. "I hear the first qualifying match is going to be quite the battle."

A laugh was the redhead's reply. "Oh, of course," The founder smirked, revealing a smile that surprised the younger man by being just as smart as the one he typically wore himself, "That's why I hand selected the participants." Leaning in, Mr. Dickenson looked over to Kenny and Max, who were just joining their other three teammates. "I might be old, but that doesn't mean I don't have a few tricks up my sleeve."

Tala received a toothy grin, reshook hands with the older gentleman, and watched as the chairman of the board managed to gush once more about his date's appearance before moving on.

Hilary managed to lead him in a wide circle away from the guests of honor and to a secondary bar in the main gathering room. Tala ordered himself a rum and coke while Hilary went straight for the brandy, much to his surprise. She shrugged as she was handed the dark liquid, and the two clinked glasses before taking a sip. It was at this point that more people started coming into the room, bladers and coaches of many of the teams both of them had found themselves facing years previous. Tala made eyes at Julia of F-Dynasty as she entered the room and headed towards them, and Hilary found herself smiling, touching Tala's arm gently, and taking her leave with a smirk as the more established female blader approached him with a brilliant smile that spoke of the flirting that was about to begin.

The brunette managed to stay out of sight for the most part, at least she thought so, stopping briefly to chat with Judy Tate, Max's mother, who seemed surprised to see her, much less see her alone – of course, she cast a strange glance at her when she said that she had lost Tala somewhere around the first pretty girl that approached him – and the two discussed how exciting it was that the boys were getting together. Thankfully, Judy never mentioned the fact that Hilary wasn't exactly included in the boys' plans, and the two parted ways amicably, the blonde woman going to join her husband.

Lee from White Tiger X recognized her and nodded, while Meriah approached her, hugging her gently and asking the exact question Judy had been tasteful enough to avoid. Smiling, Hilary chalked it up to distance and diverted conversation to how the pink haired woman was doing, if she and Rei had finally got it on – Lee's eyes narrowed, but Meriah's cheeks matched her hair well enough to give it away – and how their village was doing. All in all, Hilary marked that conversation as a success, and was grateful when Stanley and the boys approached the small stage and podium at the front of the room.

As the founder of the BBA spoke, Hilary scanned the room for Tala, finding him at a table with Julia and surprisingly enough, Brian, who must have come in when she was talking with one of the women. The redheaded Russian hadn't mentioned the man would be coming, but Hilary had learned that their lack of communication was so seamless that they could coexist almost perfectly if given enough space, thus no warning was needed.

Waiters and waitresses began handing out glasses of champagne, and she watched as Julia nearly downed hers before Dickenson made any motion to toast anything. Her cheeks were pink, and she felt Tala's gaze on her as she assessed her replacement, not that she was upset by it. Quirking an eyebrow, she watched as he shot her a quick grin, which caught Brian's attention and directed it toward her. She nodded, he nodded, and the three returned to watching the man at the podium with slightly less than complete attention.

The ruby eyed brunette turned her eyes toward the team standing beside Mr D at the podium. They looked, good, if she said so herself, the years had definitely been their friend. Max and Tyson were unable to keep the grins of their faces, and she couldn't help but smile at Kenny's slight blush at the chairman's compliments and near over-exaggerations of all the team's feats from years before. Rei and Kai stood off to the very far end, Rei's hands in his pockets, slouched slightly, exuding a completely calm aura and lack of care. Kai's eyes drifted across the room as Stanley carried on, and she knew from experience that his posture said he was almost – but not completely – relaxed. She knew the slate haired champion wasn't in love with the spotlight, but it almost always did him well.

"So now, please join me in celebrating the return of one of our sport's most loved teams. To the Bladebreakers!"

People, including Max, Tyson, and Kenny cheered, everyone holding up their glasses, waiting for the chairman to take a drink. The waiter passed by her at this moment, offering her a skinny glass of the pale liquid from his platter and she politely declined.

When the cheering had calmed down, and the five teammates had clinked their glasses together, then toasting their audience, Hilary inclined her half glass of brandy toward the stage, making eye contact for the first time in seven years with Kai Hiwatari.

Smirking, she finished the glass in two swallows before turning to leave the room.

X X X

It was just after seven pm when Kai strode up to Rei Kon at the bar. Glancing around at the proceedings, he flagged down the bartender and ordered two fingers of bourbon. Rei acknowledged his teammate with a tight smile before they touched glasses in a silent cheers.

"You ready for this, Kai?"

"Hn," Came the stoic reply, and Rei couldn't help but take another sip of his gin and ginger. "You think you still got it, Kon?"

Rei's pointed canines gleamed as he gave the captain a smirk. "If we weren't supposed to behave tonight, I'd say we should settle things with a beybattle." The Chinese man straightened his white button up shirt, and moved his long braided hair over his shoulder, furthering his well put together image.

"Afraid you'd lose?" Both men felt smiles tug at the corner of their faces and they turned their backs to the bar, leaning against the dark cherry wood.

Around them the hotel was completely out of control. The media had been given a designated area that was thankfully far far away from the bar and anywhere the Bladebreakers would be. Instead, Stanley Dickenson had been extremely strong willed about the media, giving them a small timeslot for a press conference in the days before, and explaining that things could be further discussed when time permitted around the championships. Rei and Kai stood in silence, watching previous allies and enemies come together to celebrate them. Just by the look on both men's faces, it was clear that they were assessing their competition, knowing that it wouldn't be long before they weren't celebrating, but fighting for their honor as undisputed champions against many of the people in the room.

"So, how many people do you think showed up just to see if we're still a threat?" Tyson appeared at Rei's side, and motioned for a drink from the bar.

"You'd probably be better off counting the people who didn't," Kai murmured in response, lifting his drink to his lips, his wine colored eyes moving back to the main entrance fifty feet and an elegant flight of stairs away. He could see the white Porshe 911 Carerra that was undoubtedly Tala's – his fellow Russian just had to travel extravagantly, though he had to admit the vehicle was chosen in good taste – and watched as the redhead rounded his car to assist his date.

"So, who do you think Tala's brought to his one?" Rei nudged Kai, who turned his attention away from the door, completely uncaring.

"Who cares?" Tyson looked mournfully around the bar, unhappy that it was too upscale to have any pretzels or snack mix for him to munch on while he waited for dinner.

Rei's golden eyes stayed trained on the Blitzkrieg boy, and his breath caught in his throat as he watched the blue eyed man pull a striking woman out of the passenger's side of the car. "Uh, you guys?"

Both Kai and Tyson looked to Rei, then followed his line of vision to the door.

She was stunning. Black heels and a plain black dress that dipped low in front to reveal the curvature of her breasts, long straight chocolate hair that went down to the middle of her back, and bangs that framed her face, the woman smiled bashfully at Tala, before accepting his arm and training her eyes straight ahead. Her ruby eyes danced in the camera flashes and -

"I'm surprised she came," Was the only thing Rei could find to say before looking to his left and right at his two friends. Tyson stared unashamed, his jaw slightly hanging. Meanwhile, Kai's drink had only made it halfway to his mouth, and his eyes were surprisingly wide for just a millisecond too long.

Tyson seemed to find the words first. "Are we sure that's her?" Was all he could manage, tugging uncomfortably at his blue and navy striped tie. The three men did their best not to make it obvious as they watched Tala and his date approach Mr Dickenson, who immediately embraced and obviously complimented the girl before acknowledging Tala.

"She grew up," Was all Max could say, coming from the large banquet room the festivities would actually be held in. The blonde whistled in surprise. "But what's with Tala?" Kenny peered over the American's shoulder to see what all the fuss was about, seeing the woman in question nearly get the life hugged out of her by Tyson's grandpa.

"I'll say," Tyson replied, "It's totally weird." Suddenly realizing the chairman's gaze resting on them, he continued. "We should probably stop staring though, Dickenson's giving us weird looks."

Kai said nothing, instead passing by his teammates and entering the main hall.

"What's with him?"

"Oh, you know, Chief," Max supplied with a smile as he turned to follow the captain, "Typical Kai."

As the group moved to the main room, Rei looked back at the young woman who smiled and laughed as she exchanged pleasantries and put his hands in his pockets, sighing simultaneously. "Ya look good, Hil," He whispered to no one. "Ya look good."

The group lost track of her after that, with the help of all their long time rivals coming out of the woodwork worldwide to come and see what their deal was, and to reminisce about old times. It wasn't much later that the gang found themselves on the stage beside Stanley as he made a small speech and re-initiated them into the world of Beyblade.

Kai could practically feel the force of Tyson's ego as it sucked up all the extra space on the stage. It was ridiculous, the man was beaming like he was twelve again, about to rush headfirst into a match he shouldn't have been able to win. He clenched his fists tightly, then allowed himself a small smirk as he relaxed. Tyson had an uncanny knack for winning against people who should have beaten him in seconds. The Russian figured he was just lucky in that way.

As he gazed around the room, he noticed that Tala was with Julia, and they were definitely too close to each other for it to be a purely platonic endeavor on his friend's part. The redhead looked semi distracted, looking away from both Dickenson and his new lady friend to gaze toward the door. Kai didn't get the chance to follow the man's line of vision before it turned back to the chairman's short and stout figure. Judging solely on the timbre of the American man's voice as he carried on, Kai figured he was almost done.

A waiter came by, handing all of them champagne, to which Kai scoffed at, if only inside his head. So what? They were back. It didn't mean that things were going to get easier. If anything, his teammates were more than rusty, even if they had been training. Also, they weren't as young as they were before, they actually had – and knew – their limits and were wearier about pushing them. At least Rei was, though he was surprisingly more built and physically powerful than Kai could ever remember. It took a lot of coaxing for them to return to training together, and things were still dicey at times in practice. Black Dranzer gave them a legitimate reason, a cause for which to stay together, but after that matter was taken care of – and Kai planned on taking care of it first thing once this tournament bit began – what then? Would they win this tournament and then break it off? Sure, all of them had enough money to get by for the rest of their lives, but would this be it?

He shook his head slightly, forcing such spiraling thoughts out of his head and trying to focus on the speech that was wrapping up. As soon as Dickenson was done, Kai figured he'd go get a real drink, not this sparkling nonsense that looked as potent as ginger ale. Glancing back to Tala, the thought that his once teammate had lost his initial date re-entered his mind. If Tala was attempting to get with Julia – and succeeding, if that twinkle in her eyes was any indication – where was Hilary?

"...please join me in celebrating the return of one of our sport's most loved teams. To the Bladebreakers!"

He followed the protocol for champagne, nonchalantly touching glasses with his teammates, acknowledging the crowd and willing the sorry excuse for liquor down his throat. He knew this specific kind of champagne cost well over a hundred dollars a bottle, but it didn't taste any better than the cheap kind his roommates had smuggled into their dorm at boarding school.

Halfway through ridding himself of his drink he found her in the audience, all the way in the back, no champagne in hand. That was odd, he supposed, watching her shoo away a waiter with slim glasses of the bubbly. He made it through the rest of his drink by drinking up her image, surprisingly longer hair fanned out more now that she had been moving around, her dress hugging her tight enough that he could tell she wasn't the same girl he remembered. The thing that got him was the playful glint in her eyes.

They met his.

She gave him a smile to match, and he didn't seem to notice the rest of the room go back to cheering. She raised her eyebrows in a question, almost challenging his looking her way. Raising her glass in a casual salute to her once teammates, she inclined it his direction before draining the dark amber liquid in two swallows.

When she turned to leave Kai found himself unwilling to do anything except find her.

X X X

**Author's Notes:** I just wanted to take a quick second to thank everyone who read this so far. Your support really encourages me. The chapter after this was incredibly difficult to write, which is why this one is so delayed. As always, please drop me a line, and thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favorites. It means a lot to me. Also, rating starts to go up from here, just for a few small details in the following chapters. Nothing too terrible, but rating will be changed as a precaution.


	4. Chapter 3

Author's Note:I am SO SO SO SO sorry for the wait! I'm getting a move on next chapter, it's just been so slow to go. Thank you so very much for sticking with me.

**Chapter 3: After Dark**

X X X

He found her at the bar, with two thirds of a stiff drink in hand. Darting between her stool and that of some no-name competitor from way back when to her right, he caught the bartender's attention and ordered whiskey from the top shelf.

When he spoke, his voice smooth like the drink placed before him, the woman beside him tilted her head his way, a smirk dancing in the depths of her ruby red eyes.

"Long time no see," She breathed after a moment, tilting her drink towards him in a silent cheers. He clinked his glass against hers, and they both drained their glasses after that.

When his glass hit the stained cherry wood of the bar, Kai couldn't help but chuckle lightly. "Much better than the shit back there," He inclined toward the banquet room with a nod.

She laughed, a deep alto ringing that reminded him how they hadn't seen each other in a very long time. "Stanley has decent taste in everything but champagne." She paused, nodding to the bartender when he asked if she would like another drink, but instead motioned to the whiskey he was about to pour her friend. "Not that champagne is very good either way."

"Hn." The chair beside her opened up, the male beyblader leaving to follow some of his friends to the suite they were carrying on about.

Hilary breathed a sigh of relief as the Russian took a seat beside her. "Thank God," She hummed, making eye contact with Kai briefly. "They spent so long yammering on about how awesome it was that they had a suite here that I thought they'd have to check out before they made it upstairs." He didn't comment, but she hadn't expected him to. "So," She began after a moment of scanning the room, "How've you been?"

He shrugged, pushing his sleeves up just shy of his elbows. "Alright." He took a drag from his drink. "You?" He turned toward her, making eye contact.

She smiled sweetly at him, the rest of the party beginning to fade into a dull roar. "Not too bad. I live in Santa Monica now," She realized his eyes were nearly the color of the molten amber liquid in her hands as she continued. "Dickenson keeps me busy."

"You work for the BBA?"

"How else do you think I got here? I'm not made of money." She gave him a smirk as she quipped back.

He turned from the bar, leaning against it with his elbows. "That'd explain Tala."

She threw her head in the direction of the redheaded playboy. "Yeah," she said casually. "I guess it would."

"I'm surprised he ditched you so soon," The slate haired ex-champ said casually, realizing that it might have come across as forward _and_ offensive only after the statement left his lips.

She shrugged, raising her almost empty glass in said Blitzkrieg Boy's direction when he made eye contact. She turned back to Kai, her eyes playful again. Something in him seemed to come undone at her gaze. She leaned toward him, pulling her hand up to her mouth like she was about to divulge a secret, though he figured no one around them could hear much between everyone chattering and the loud music in the main hall.

"Tala wasn't actually my date," The woman hummed, her breath dancing across his face, smelling of fire and honey. "We just flew in together."

He assessed her silently once she leaned back onto her own bar stool. She caught him staring at her after a moment and only turned to speak to him after draining the rest of her drink. Instead of speaking, she met his eyes with a silent question, then raked her ruby irises up and down his muscular frame once before meeting his eyes again, but this time with a playful smirk that Kai saw as a challenge.

"What are you looking at, Tachibana?" She hesitated for a second, blinking almost confused at his aggravated tone. The smirk that he shot her after a moment brought her to speed.

She punched his bicep lightly. "Very funny, Hiwatari," She shook her head incredulously as he chuckled softly. A moment passed as she looked around again, this time noticing more of her ex-teammates gathering over by what appeared to be the longest buffet she had ever seen. "So, how've they been?"

Kai followed her line of vision to Max and Rei who followed Tyson, who carried two plates. He sighed softly. Some things never change. "They're good."

"That's good," She half whispered, half spoke, a hit of sadness ringing through her alto voice. "You guys looked good up there."

A grunt was her response, and she turned toward him again, noticing that his stare was concentrated very intensely upon her face. "You're upset," He ventured, after a moment of her eyes looking glossy.

She shook her head very defensively, the fire in her eyes returning to prove him right. "Nah. I just can't believe how far apart everyone drifted."

"I'm sure they'd be glad to see you." Kai's gut clenched as he finished that statement, some part of him hoping – much to the rest of him's surprise – that she didn't ditch him for his teammates.

He was relieved when she sighed and shook her head just once this time. "Nah." She smiled back at him briefly. "Tyson's about to make love to his dinner plates." She blew a puff of breath up at her bangs. "And besides, if you're so anxious to get rid of me, you could say so."

She turned away from him, watching the bartender pull down bourbon for her. A silence crossed over them, as Kai searched for the words to say within his own short dictionary of monosyllabic words and sounds to tell her she wasn't a bother. She was standing, drink in hand, ready to go. Finally, he settled on one.

"Stay."

She turned back toward him, this time smirking as he had before. He fell for it.

"I wasn't planning on leaving, Kai." Her eyes met his, rubies on molten copper, and his name left her lips with just a dart of her tongue. His body felt like it had been set on fire, both invigoratingly cool and disastrously hot. He _liked_ it.

X X X

Somewhere around the time they had brought out this ridiculous desert spread did the two leave the bar area, toasting each other with more glass clinking and finishing their drinks with gusto. They found their way to the left overs of the buffet, which was surprising, given that Tyson had eaten for twelve and there were still left overs.

To his right, Hilary's cheeks were flushed, and it only brought out more of the colors in her eyes. She commented briefly about Tyson most likely taking the large wedding sized cake from the desert table and trying to fit it on his plate. The resulting image in his head caused him to chuckle audibly, causing her laughter to catch and burn brighter and louder. He half-grinned, allowing himself to relish her company. He definitely wasn't expecting to find himself spending the evening with her, much less staying at the gathering this late. It was already closer to eleven, and he found himself reluctant to leave, an unheard of reality for these types of events.

She filled her plate with chicken, pasta, and vegetables, waiting for him while he picked a piece of steak that had been sitting in the warming tray beside her. Grabbing them each a dinner roll, she followed him to a table in the bar area that looked out a window.

Almost immediately, a server appeared, offering them wines and other drinks, to which both refused, choosing to stick with the water the young hostess had already brought them.

"Don't tell me you're getting drunk, Tachibana." He eyed her, before looking at the glass beside her.

She giggled. "Nope, barely buzzed. I don't drink while I eat."

"Not even wine?"

She shook her head in the negative. "What about you?"

"Their wine list sucks."

She shrugged, cutting up a piece of her chicken. "I don't get what the big deal is about dining and drinking wine."

"It actually makes the meal." He took a drink of his water, his disappointment obvious.

A roll of the eyes later, Hilary replied. "If you can find a wine that actually makes the meal, I'll buy the dinner."

He cocked a smirk at her. "Oh yeah?" Her eyes lit up in a challenging confirmation. "Don't make bets you can't afford, Hil."

"I do have _some_ money, I'll have you know."

"I've drank wines worth more than than your car."

"Who's to say I don't drive a Ferrari?" She smirked back at him and laughed. "Alright, so I don't drive a Ferrari."

"I'll buy," He mentioned offhandedly, his gaze resting on the view out the window to close the conversation.

She found herself examining him as he watched the people pass by on the street outside their window. There was this feeling of hot and cold simultaneously in her chest. This was the last thing she would've expected to happen, but she found she didn't mind in the slightest. She'd never been around Kai like this. Maybe it had been the years between their last actual conversation, but she felt like things between them were completely different. She'd just spent the last few hours engaging in playful banter, and flirting with the last human being she'd expect to. Ever.

"Things are about to get rowdy," He murmured, and she realized she wasn't sure how long she'd actually been staring at the Russian Beyblader. Her blushed darkened, but she was glad that the lights within the bar area were so dim it would've been impossible to tell.

"How do you know?"

He motioned toward the bar, which had gotten surprisingly more crowded. Hilary could just barely make out Max and Tyson's hair from behind, but she couldn't miss the shots in their hands – as well as the fifteen people's around them – or the cheering that ensued after they all downed the clear liquid in the small glasses.

"Max doesn't drink." He stood to leave, waiting for her to do the same.

"Wouldn't that be a reason to stay and watch them?"

Kai smirked at her. "Nah, Rei's around her somewhere."

"Isn't he with Mariah?"

Kai slipped his hands into his pockets and shrugged. "Not my problem."

She couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her, but left the table none the less. "Where to?"

They left the bar and headed toward the banquet room only to stop when a piece of cake landed just shy of Kai's foot in the doorway. He winced, and Hilary edged back a step herself. "Looks like we're not going back in there." She sighed, eying the hotel lobby wearily. "I forgot how many of our acquaintances are barbarians. Let's head back toward the bar for now."

He hummed in agreement. Somehow, he had managed to make it back to the bar, ordering them both another round of dark liquor. That first drink turned into three once the bar became completely overrun by the crowd doing shots to celebrate, and the duo attempted to make the obnoxiousness more bearable with whiskey.

At some point, it began to work. Now, he was openly staring at her. With all the people crowded at the bar, she had shifted the chair she was on so that instead of being across from him, she was closer to his side, the two watching replays of sports highlights on one of the large televisions on the wall. Or at least pretending to, though neither was actually paying attention, the amount of alcohol in their systems beginning to have their way with them.

They had been making casual conversation the entire night, though they had fallen into a bit of silence, occasionally shaking their head at the group at the bar, who had only seemed to gather steam after what would be the sixth round of shots for everyone. Kai ran a hand through his dual-tone hair, watching as Hilary took a long pull from her drink, tilting her head back with her eyes closed in near ecstasy. He watched her throat as she swallowed, and something deep within him suddenly wanted to kiss her. She let the glass hit the table with a gentle tap, and looked over at him, her eyes slightly dilated.

"What?" She smiled at him.

He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the thoughts that were beginning to overrun his mind. He had felt that attraction to her earlier in the night, but not on this level. He knew it was the alcohol loosening his self control, but he didn't want to make her uncomfortable just because he got weak after a few glasses of whiskey.

She squeezed his thigh a moment later, when he stopped shaking his head but offered no other explanation, and he felt himself harden, a groan nearly escaping his lips, eyes closing. When his eyes locked on hers a second later, he was grateful they were sitting. Even though the groan hadn't been audible, she must have realized the effect she had on him because her eyes danced with that challenging smirk she wore earlier.

She didn't remove her hand.

It was enough to shatter his self control. "Do you have a room?" He asked a moment later, his voice heated and low. She shook her head, watching as he produced a card key from his pants pocket. "I do. Let's go."

If his proposition stunned her, she made no qualms about it. His left arm gripped her right wrist as they weaved through the dwindling crowd to the elevators.

As the door slid shut behind them, he turned to her as he pressed the button for his floor. "You're sure Tala won't mind?"

She shook her head immediately, leaning against the opposite wall of the lift. "I told you, he isn't my date."

"Good." It only took two short strides for him to cross the elevator and kiss her.

X X X

She didn't remember getting into his suite, only hitting the wall outside the suite as the Russian pinned her with a rough kiss. She did remember however, that her dress fell to the floor in that casually graceful way that usually only happened in the movies, leaving her nearly completely exposed to her partner, who was currently fumbling with the buttons on his shirt. Without speaking, she pushed herself flush up against him, clad in only a black strapless bra and matching panties, starting with the button that began just above the waist of his pants, dipping her fingers in-between the space between buttons to feel the powerful muscles of his abdomen as she assisted him. He growled softly, and she had the presence of mind to give him a coy glance as he freed the last three buttons and she slipped her hands into the shirt's opening, silky hands running up his chest to his pectorals, and finally pushing the shirt off in a matter of seconds.

Once the offending garment had left his being, Kai wasted no time, cupping her bottom with his hands to pick her up with little effort. She wrapped her long legs around his waist and allowed him to guide her to the bed, dropping her down on it's edge without pulling back the sheets.

"That escalated quickly," Hilary mused aloud as Kai shot her a smirk and undid his belt, sliding his pants off.

Casually, Hilary gave her ex-captain a once over. While she could only express obvious attraction and lust with her eyes, as a man, there were other tell-tale signs. Said signs were there, and when he leaned down to kiss her, she wrapped her legs around the small of his back once more, moving her hips up to meet his, soliciting a needy groan. She seemed to fit his body perfectly, and they moved in sync until neither party had coherent though sans the fact that the other was wearing too much clothing.

Between kisses, Kai growled in her ear. "Take it off," He whispered, punctuating the desired action with a nip of her earlobe. Beneath him, she shuddered, and lifted the top half of her body from the bed just enough to unhook the black lace that kept her breasts concealed.

She felt his hands ghost over the sensitive part of her womanly curves, and the jolt as he teased their peaks with his palms then fingers. It was electric, she decided, her eyes closing, and a dazed smile formed on her face. She hooked her thumbs into the waistband of his boxers, guiding him closer to her, her hips moving of their own subconscious accord as she enjoyed the lavish treatment she was being given.

It might have been the alcohol that made her so bold, but no part of her being was against this. Hil reached up and ran her hands through his hair, sending little shocks of pleasure through the nerves at his scalp. He paused for a moment at the sensory overload and she took the opportunity to slide out from underneath him. She motioned to a place next to her on his bed and he obliged, laying on his side beside her.

"Are you sure?" He hummed thoughtfully, his hand upon the curve of her hip over the soft fabric of her panties. She couldn't help but smile. Even now, with the prospect of good sex and the ridiculous amount of whiskey they had consumed over the last few hours, he was still a gentleman.

She kissed him this time, but unlike the ones they had shared over the last while. It was slower, more deliberate. She _wanted_ this. Thoughts came apart and twisted back together in mind-blowing, white hot ribbons that were no more coherent than the need to be closer to this beauty of a woman in body and soul. She did something to him that no other woman, not even ones he had entertained relationships with had. Maybe it was history, maybe not. He didn't have time to think about it now, as the woman in question swung a lean, muscular leg over his lower torso and lowered herself on top of him in a way that made all non-sexual thoughts cease.

It wasn't long before either party could handle not being completely joined together. Wants turned to needs and needs couldn't wait. In the course of his sex-active life, Kai Hiwatari had been with women who had only had sex with him because of his fame, who hadn't gotten off from anything but retelling the story to their friends – even if they faked it well. He had also been with women who wanted nothing but to do the deed, not that he had mind, but he did desire something more than thrusting into oblivion where women were concerned. In that very moment, he found his hazy mind realizing that this woman was more than he had ever expected her to be – funny how sex does that to a person – and he wanted to know more about her. To be with _her_, rather than _her_ be with _him_.

He entered her as slowly as he could, given his desire, his eyes locked on her ruby red irises until he was all the way to the hilt, and he could feel her muscles squeezing him in a way that made his eyes nearly roll back into his head. From beneath him, she began to rock her hips in a pleasing way, the look of bliss on her face causing him to kiss her cheek before allowing himself to move to her left ear.

"You're beautiful," were the only words that came to him, and her eyes shot open wide, turning her head so that they met his dark ones. That and the jolt that rippled through her system at his hips bucking slightly against her had her breathing heavy. Such words were not the norm from the dual-haired man hovering above her.

She mewed in pleasure at the sensations he gave her, sighing as he kissed her gently and pressed their foreheads together, noses almost touching. No experience she had ever had could have prepared her for this.

"Make love to me, Kai."

X X X


End file.
